24.5 C
Cape Town
Sunday, February 23, 2025

2024 SONA may err on the side of caution

Published on

 

 

President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to be very cautious is his State of the Nation Address (SONA) this year.

 

The State of the Nation Address, in which the president outlines the state of South Africa economic, political and social condition, is set to take place on Thursday, 8 February 2024. It will be taking place at the Cape Town City Hall, and the president’s address will commence at 19:00.

 

At last year’s SONA, President Ramaphosa’s speech aptly noted that citizens “want solutions and they want government to work for them”. Among the key concerns for citizens, which he promised to tackle were loadshedding, crime and unemployment, as well as poverty and the cost of living, and corruption.

 

Loashedding

 

“What we can do is to fix the problem today, to keep the lights on tomorrow and for

generations to come.”

 

In the last year, South Africa experienced more than double the power cuts experienced in 2022. Independent energy analyst, Pieter Jordaan, has noted in several reports, that South Africa experience more blackouts in 2023 than in the past 10 years in total.

 

 

Unemployment

 

“Our economy needs to grow much faster if we are to meaningfully reduce unemployment.”

 

Unemployment dropped by 0.6% in the third quarter of 2023 to 32,6%, compared to 2022’s third quarter statistic of 32,9%.

 

ALSO READ: Employment rate recovers to pre-Covid levels

 

Crime

 

“We are strengthening the South African Police Service to prevent crime and improving the capacity of the National Prosecuting Authority and courts to ensure perpetrators are brought to justice.”

 

The April 2022 to March 2023 annual crime statistics saw the country’s per capita murder rate at its highest in 20 years – at 45 per 100,000 of the population. The attempted murder rate was also recorded at the highest it’s ever been.

 

Analyst’s take

 

Political analyst, Zwelinzima Ndevu says Thursday’s SONA may see the president put the ANC’s achievements in the last year in the spotlight, and focus a little less on over-promising. Ndevu says this especially true ahead of the elections and in the face of the minimal tangible gains made in his term as president.

 

“The people [of South Africa] would be looking at ‘what have you done, that you promised doing?’. The president to reduce or eradicate completely the issue of loadshedding… dealing firmly corruption, we have not seen anything happening [with corruption] thus far. And those are some of the things that people are going to judge him on.”

 

Ndevu says this year’s SONA is especially significant because it also marks the last one in Ramaphosa’s first term as president.

 

“When he started office, there was a glimpse of hope. The country was looking forward to a president that was going to change the trajectory of the country positively. Most of the things that were promised, have thus far not been achieved.”
Caitlin Maledo
Caitlin Maledo
Caitlin is an enthusiastic journalist, that has been exploring her interest in broadcast media since 2019. With a natural curiosity for the world around her, you'll always find her poking around hidden gems throughout Cape Town and surrounds.

Latest articles

Man arrested for racist rant on social media

    A 50-year-old man is appearing in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Friday, after his racist rant on social media caught the attention of...

Police seek 8 suspects in Pretoria nightclub abuse case

    The South African Police Service says it has launched a manhunt for at least eight foreign national suspects in connection with an alleged torture...

Imam & queer activist killed in suspected hit

    The murder of a South African imam, Muhsin Hendricks, has been widely condemned, with many suspecting his murder to be a hate crime. Hendricks,...